Box Score (PDF)

WICHITA, Kan. – The University of Evansville Purple Aces (29-24) were eliminated from the 2015 Missouri Valley Conference Tournament with a 3-0 loss to the Dallas Baptist Patriots (42-12) on Thursday morning. Right-hander Ryan Billo threw a quality start for the Purple Aces but the offense was limited to just four hits in the season-ending defeat.
 
"I thought we got a great pitching performance and our guys competed really well," said UE head coach Wes Carroll. "I was so proud of Billo's gutty performance against a really good offense lineup but we saw a pure domination on the mound by Dallas Baptist. All three arms of theres came in, blew our hitters away and we didn't have an answer at all."
 
Dallas Baptist right-hander Cory Taylor and Billo kept the contest scoreless through the first five innings.
 
The Patriots inched ahead with a run in the sixth on a throwing error from infielder Stewart Nelson.
 
Down 1-0, UE nearly rallied back in the bottom of the sixth putting the first two base runners on. However, Taylor was lifted for closer Brandon Koch. The right-hander recorded a pair of outs on a strikeout and double steal attempt that retired UE outfielder Jarod Perry at the plate. Koch then struck out infielder Shain Showers to leave the tying run at third.
 
Ahead by a run, Dallas Baptist then tacked on two more runs in the seventh with an RBI triple from David Martinelli and a Drew Turbin sacrifice fly.
 
Relievers Conor Gilligan and Matt Rodgers held DBU scoreless over the final 1.2 innings but the Purple Aces were unable to score late in the 3-0 defeat.
 
Billo (7-2) takes the loss, despite going 6.1 innings, yielding just three runs (two earned) on four hits.
 
For all of the latest information on Evansville baseball, log on to GoPurpleAces.com or follow the team's Twitter account @UEAcesBaseball.